My first-ever handgun purchase in the US was a Hi-Point 380 (with the silver trim on the slide). It was also my first .380. Never heard of the brand before then, but the price screamed out at me: $99.99 at Long's Drug Store (yes, this was some years ago!). Turns out it was priced just $0.05 over MSRP.
It was big. It was heavy. It was accurate. My buddies (1911 die-hards) laughed until I out-shot them on steel plates we set up in the desert. It is easy to rack the slide back and my daughters loved shooting it (they were 11 and 15 at the time).
Hoppe's dissolves the paint in the sights as well as the red dot on the safety. Redid using daughters' red nail polish, no problem.
Cut myself once loading the magazine. Edges of feed lips very sharp. Dremel took care of that.
Had one jam when it was new (FTF, round did not seat completely, slide was out of battery...slam slide with palm of support hand, and continue firing). Cleaned and re-oiled, never a FTE, FTF since then, using ball and HP ammo. Eats anything I feed it.
Exceedingly comfortable to hold. The grip is very nicely contoured, although seriously sweaty hands may slip on the plastic. Maybe some decal grips will fix?
I now have an HP in .40S&W as well. Same thing: VERY accurate out of the box. Came with regular rear sight as well as ghost ring in the box, installed ghost ring and I love shooting that baby (and I hate reloading the magazines all the time!)
PROS:
1. Accurate. I challenge anyone to find a more accurate gun in this price range.
2. Comfortable to hold and aim.
3. Weight offsets recoil, very comfortable to shoot.
4. Is often mistaken (by the gun ignorant) for a Glock (no offense to Glock fans)
All 4 are positive functional points for consideration.
CONS:
1. It is ugly. But then if you ever had to use it, all the BG will need to see is the muzzle.
2. It is heavy. This is a factor in concealed carry.
3. It is big. A gun this big should have a higher magazine capacity.
4. Magazine feed lips are sharp (cheaply made). They will cut you if you are not careful, and they will distort when dropped. But I have seen 1911 magazines do this, too. So not a significant con.
5. It is the very devil to disassemble and clean. This is a serious con, since it affects how often you will clean the piece, but it is a user-sensitive con. How OCD are you about cleaning your guns?
Of these cons, exclude the aestheric cons (big and ugly), the functional cons are not related to the gun's shooting function.
I like my Hi-Points. I hate cleaning them. I love shooting them. I hate reloading them. They are comfortable in the hand and the weight helps offset the recoil impulse. I cannot CC them, too heavy.
I fired a friend's HP 9mm carbine, and I hated that one because of the cheek slap.
As a "workingman's gun" (which is how it is advertised), it fits the bill for a budget. I would never take it to a competition, but if my life depended on it, I would have no reservations about taking it with me when the SHTF.
Hope that helps, from a 2-time Hi-Point owner. (I gues that means I am twice-damned?) Oh, and I own 3 Glocks, so I am 5-times-damned? More so since I do not have a single M1911? Heh-heh
These are what you buy when you need a handgun but have only $150-$180 to spend and no more. As for the functioning problems, I've had a name brand gun costing six times as much that went one round before choking. 
